The newly reconstituted Council finally held its first business meeting of 2014 this week, following a one week weather-related delay.
Last week’s cold weather turned Council’s scheduled 3 week holiday break into a month-long recess.
With the frigid temperatures and the school closings, I wondered if last week’s Council meeting would be cancelled.
I kept checking the city’s website and official calendar on Monday and Tuesday.
The answer was always the same: “business as usual”.
The Council meeting remained on the city’s online calendar, and there was nary a word about any weather-related closings.
Thank goodness someone with real information contacted me to let me know that the January 7th Council meeting had been cancelled.
Unfortunately I never heard about any garbage pickup delays.
Turns out, I wasn’t the only one.
Everyone on my street braved subzero temps to put their garbage out on Tuesday night….a day early as it turned out.
Last week’s cold weather turned Council’s scheduled 3 week holiday break into a month-long recess.
With the frigid temperatures and the school closings, I wondered if last week’s Council meeting would be cancelled.
I kept checking the city’s website and official calendar on Monday and Tuesday.
The answer was always the same: “business as usual”.
The Council meeting remained on the city’s online calendar, and there was nary a word about any weather-related closings.
Thank goodness someone with real information contacted me to let me know that the January 7th Council meeting had been cancelled.
Unfortunately I never heard about any garbage pickup delays.
Turns out, I wasn’t the only one.
Everyone on my street braved subzero temps to put their garbage out on Tuesday night….a day early as it turned out.
Sometime later I discovered that the city did post some weather-related information----but not on the city’s official website.
It was posted on the city's Facebook page.
Most Facebook users probably assume that everyone else in the world uses Facebook too.
That’s really not the case.
Lots of people avoid online social media sites due to privacy and data-mining concerns.
Which raises the question:
It was posted on the city's Facebook page.
Most Facebook users probably assume that everyone else in the world uses Facebook too.
That’s really not the case.
Lots of people avoid online social media sites due to privacy and data-mining concerns.
Which raises the question:
Given Facebook’s self-selected, limited audience, why would the city decide to post vital emergency-related information on Facebook---and not on the city’s official website?I raised that issue with Council this week, but got no answer.
As I see it, it’s just another example of the administration’s communication incompetence.
There’s been a lot of discussion at Council meetings over the last few years about the quality and usefulness (or lack thereof) of the City’s website.
Those conversations have resulted in some minor tweaks, but that’s about it.
A local consultant told Council a year ago that it would cost $100,000 to create a spiffy new city website.
That’s absolutely absurd.
Cuyahoga County’s Department of Information Services offers website services at a very modest cost....a fraction of the consultant's estimate.
Several local communities have taken advantage of their services, and the results are easily accessible online.
So why hasn't anything been done?
The city’s website is entirely within Mayor Scott Coleman’s (not Council’s) wheelhouse.
Council can talk, but that doesn’t mean Coleman has to (or will) listen.
Coleman maintains tight control over all of the city’s communication with residents, including the city’s main communication devices… the Highland Highlights newsletter and the city’s official website.
The buck stops with him.
Council can talk, but that doesn’t mean Coleman has to (or will) listen.
Coleman maintains tight control over all of the city’s communication with residents, including the city’s main communication devices… the Highland Highlights newsletter and the city’s official website.
The buck stops with him.
And stopped it has….for quite some time now.
2014 TO BRING (CONTINUED) MAJOR CAPITAL INVESTMENT IN MUNI CENTER BUILDINGS
A couple of years ago Council spent over $200,000 shoring up the Community Center after it was discovered that the below-ground portions of several supporting beams had deteriorated.
On Tuesday, Council authorized bids for other capital improvements to other Municipal Center buildings.
The Police/Fire building has had long-standing problems with water leakage in the basement.
Service Director Thom Evans told Council that soil borings done when the Building was originally constructed showed there was a lot of “siltstone” at the site.
A couple of years ago Council spent over $200,000 shoring up the Community Center after it was discovered that the below-ground portions of several supporting beams had deteriorated.
On Tuesday, Council authorized bids for other capital improvements to other Municipal Center buildings.
The Police/Fire building has had long-standing problems with water leakage in the basement.
Service Director Thom Evans told Council that soil borings done when the Building was originally constructed showed there was a lot of “siltstone” at the site.
“A lot of the problem is from the siltstone. It’s a natural material in the soil..it moves with the water table. It has been clogging up the filler drains and the sump pump.”
A consultant has recommended that the city: fix a load-bearing retaining wall at the rear of the police building; replace several window sills; perform some brick tuck pointing; and install filter fabric around the foundation to deal with the sill stone problem.
The price tag?
Evans recommended that $500,000 be set aside in the 2014 budget to pay for that work--- and to cover the cost of replacing City Hall’s “inefficient, antiquated” HVAC system.
The price tag?
Evans recommended that $500,000 be set aside in the 2014 budget to pay for that work--- and to cover the cost of replacing City Hall’s “inefficient, antiquated” HVAC system.
CITY APPOINTMENTS: REVOLVING DOORS AND MUCH THE SAME
This week Councilwoman Cathy Murphy was unanimously reelected to serve as Council President for the next two years.
Most of the Council appointments remained the same, except the Councilman Chuck Brunello will take Councilman Ed Hargate’s place on the Legislative & Finance Committee.
That committee will continue to be chaired by Councilman Leo Lombardo.
Newly elected (returning) Councilwoman Ann D’Amico will take over as Chair of the Drainage Committee, filling the spot vacated by former Councilman Frank Legan.
Legan, meanwhile, has been appointed by Mayor Coleman to serve on the city’s Board of Zoning & Building Appeals.
This week Councilwoman Cathy Murphy was unanimously reelected to serve as Council President for the next two years.
Most of the Council appointments remained the same, except the Councilman Chuck Brunello will take Councilman Ed Hargate’s place on the Legislative & Finance Committee.
That committee will continue to be chaired by Councilman Leo Lombardo.
Newly elected (returning) Councilwoman Ann D’Amico will take over as Chair of the Drainage Committee, filling the spot vacated by former Councilman Frank Legan.
Legan, meanwhile, has been appointed by Mayor Coleman to serve on the city’s Board of Zoning & Building Appeals.
One appointment that shouldn’t go unnoticed:McFadden, a local attorney, brought a great deal of professional knowledge and competence to P&Z.
Mayor Scott Coleman has appointed Anthony (Tony) Valentino to the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z), to replace Don McFadden.
That’s something P&Z desperately needs.
Understanding and appropriately implementing zoning laws is tough stuff.
Zoning ordinances are technical and complicated----it’s not something that most lay people can handle….or at least handle well.
Valentino’s name should be familiar to most residents.
Most recently he was named a 2012 " Citizen of the Year" by the Mayfield Schools for his leadership role in the Wildcat Park Foundation.
Mayfield School Superintendent Dr. Keith Kelly recognized Valentino for:
"...step(ping) forward as the Assistant project leader and fundraising coordinator for Wildcat Park.."http://www.mayfieldschools.org/mobile/News/Details/0?newsId=1052
According to a recent news report, that could be a very dubious distinction indeed.
Among other things "Wildcat Park" involved removing all of Mayfield High School's tennis courts in order to install expanded football stadium parking.
The tennis team was thrown under the bus for the football team.
Paying the price for the expensive, gussied-up football facilities, high school tennis players now have to travel offsite for every practice and match.
Even more disturbing, the news report indicates that Valentino's "Wildcat Park" may be a huge taxpayer rip-off.
Valentino's group has raised only a fraction of the $3 million the Foundation pledged when initially selling the project to residents.
The reporter who investigated the situation wrote:
I found that taxpayers paid for much more of Wildcat Stadium than I initially realized. And I feel a bit misled. The campaign that raised private funds for the project blurred the line in public statements between what it hoped to pay for and what was actually already embedded in district's plan.http://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2013/10/mayfield_wildcats_stadium_gets.html
The sports complex cost the 4,000-student district about $3.5 million, district treasurer Scott Snyder says. About $650,000 was raised through private donations.
http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20110826/wildcat-park-project-is-focus-of-fundraisers
Valentino's name should also be familiar to Highland Heights residents because he is also a longtime appointed city official.
Coleman appointed him to serve on the city’s Park & Recreation Commission (P&R) years ago.
Valentino, in fact, served as the P&R Chair for several years.
It was during those years that a Valentino-affiliated company (Valentino at one point identified himself as the company’s “owner and President”) became the city’s exclusive HVAC services provider.
That company even performed work in the park ---work that Valentino, as P&Z chair, was legally authorized and required to approve.
City records show that Mayor Coleman approved most of the company’s invoices.
Council, however, was apparently unaware of the cozy business arrangement.
That’s significant because city law clearly states that Council’s prior approval has to be obtained before services are purchased from and/or payments are made to any business affiliated with any elected or appointed city official.
Highland Heights Ordinance 117.04(b)(1) reads:
"….no goods or services can be purchased from and no payments made from city funds regardless of amount without prior approval of council acting on motion ordinance or resolution at a regular meeting if the purchase is to made from and payment made to an elected or appointed official of the municipality or any business entity in which that person has a direct or beneficial interest in the business."Council minutes do not show that Valentino ever disclosed his business affiliation before his affiliated company began providing exclusive HVAC services to the city.
Nor do city records show that Council passed any ordinance or resolution approving the arrangement or authorizing payments to be made for the company’s services, as required by Ordinance 117.04(b)(1).
After the scandal broke Council asked the Ohio Ethics Commission to look into whether any ethics laws were violated---a request that, apparently, resulted in no action being taken.
As far as I know no formal investigation into the legal propriety of the financial arrangement between the city and the Valentino-affiliated company was ever undertaken.
There was no apparent fallout from the scandal.
No heads rolled.
And Coleman continued to reappoint Valentino to his paid P&R position.
Now he has appointed Valentino to an even more lucrative and prestigious position---as a member of the city’s powerful Planning & Zoning Commission.
That appointment raises some questions about Coleman’s judgment and personal ethics.
After all:
http://highlandheightsohiohappenings.blogspot.com/2010/05/matter-of-very-serious-concern.html
After all:
If it's the mayor’s duty to enforce and obey the city's laws, should he reward political appointees who don't do the same?To read more details about the scandal:http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20100430/highland-heights-officials-accused-of-running-afoul-of-ordinance
http://highlandheightsohiohappenings.blogspot.com/2010/05/matter-of-very-serious-concern.html
